But we can’t do everything for you, so here are three ways you
just might be sabotaging your own job search (without realizing
it)!

1. E-mail address

What e-mail address do you use professionally?

If you’re using AOL, or your local cable provider, you could be
inadvertently shooting yourself in the foot.

Only 5% of new users at TheLadders sign up with AOL e-mail
addresses these days. If you’re still using AOL to represent
yourself professionally, it could be sending a signal that you’re
uncomfortable with new technology and that you haven’t
prioritized keeping your skills up-to-date.

Using your local cable provider’s default e-mail — whether it’s
bellsouth.net, optonline.net, or tampabay.rr.com — increases the
chances of a typo leading to a missed connection. Because people
don’t pay as much attention, or care, to what they’re typing
after the ‘@’ sign, using less-familiar domains in your e-mail
should be avoided.

More than 45% of new users at TheLadders use
gmail.com. Because gmail is well-known for its
utility, ease-of-use, and power, using gmail as your address is a
smart move that also sends the message that you’re up-to-date
with the times.

What’s before the’@’ sign is important too.

Common ‘household’ or ‘joint’ email strategies such as
‘jimandnancy@’, ‘smithhousehold@’, or ‘huxtablefamily@’ are not
good e-mail addresses to use for your professional job search.
Professionals are accustomed to writing directly to other
professionals. Requesting that they e-mail your spouse & kids
when contacting you is awkward.

The best email address is your first name, followed by a dot,
followed by your last name, at gmail.com:

cliff.huxtable@gmail.com

If that’s taken, then for the purposes of your job search, add
next year’s number to your address:

cliff.huxtable.2013@gmail.com

You’re probably going to be using this e-mail address into the
New Year anyway and starting now makes you seem ahead of the
times. And everybody wants to hire somebody from the future,
right?

2. Can a stranger read your resume?

Print out your resume. Take the top third and rip it off. Hand it
to somebody you don’t know.

Can they tell you, without asking you any additional questions,
what you want to do next?

For too many of my subscribers, the answer is no. The reason is
that you’re trying to do the wrong thing with the top third of
your resume. You’re trying to tell people about your character
and your abilities and your
many, many different skills and your flexibility
and too many things!

You know what the person who is reading your resume is trying to
find out?

“Does this gal, or guy, want this job that I have to fill?”

Obviously, given that you’ve spent the time to create a resume
and send it to them, they know you want a job.
But do you want this particular job?

Is it something that you’ve done before? If so, did you like it?
If so, do you want to do it again?

Because you spend all of your time with yourself, it seems so
very obvious that you want the type of job that you’re looking
for.

But strangers don’t know that. And, chances are, you’ll most
likely be hired by a stranger.

So it’s important that you make it easy for people who don’t know
you.

Show them, at the very top of your resume, what
job you want.

If they can’t tell, by reading the top-third of your resume, what
you want to do next, then you’re never going to get to the next
step.

So the question is: did you talk to that person
today? Did you try to?

It’s important, while you’re searching, looking, peeking and
applying to all those great jobs you find at TheLadders, that you
also realize that you need to make talking to people, live, in
person or on the phone, a priority.

Have you called your old contacts? Returned the call from the
company that perhaps you’re only mildly interested in? Have you
taken a former colleague to lunch? Did you go to a Meetup? Did you call back the
recruiters you’ve met over the past six months? Drop by a
conference?

Connecting with people, live, in person or on the phone, is
essential to getting hired. Too often, we fool ourselves into
believing that self-directed activity is the best way to get
hired. It’s not. Connecting with others is.

If you’re more of an introvert, more comfortable communicating by
writing than by speaking, you can still connect with others. I’m
not going to mislead you and say that it’s
better, but it’s still sufficient if you write
thoughtful, sensible blog posts, comments, e-mails and
contributions on industry-related topics and threads. But it’s
important that you’re connecting with others,
not just yourself.

When it comes to getting hired, you need to ensure that every day
is a “talk to a person who could potentially hire me” day.

Because eventually… they will.

So those are the three things you might be doing to sabotage your
own efforts in the job search, Readers.